Bristol Council oppose airport expansion
Airport bosses are looking to expand with flights to North America and the Middle East
Last updated 9th Jul 2025
Bristol City Council voted to oppose the further expansion of Bristol Airport.
Airport Bosses have published a new "masterplan" for the next phase of growth.
The proposals include a longer runway, and flights to North America and the Middle East.
If plans go ahead, the maximum number of passengers will increase to 15 million per year.
The move has been widely criticised by campaign groups and environmentalists, worried about climate change and the impact on local communities.
Protesters gathered on College Green on Tuesday night (8th July) ahead of the council debate.
"If we're going to meet our legally-binding climate commitments, we cannot have airports expanding," said Steve Clarke from the Bristol Airport Action Network.
"They want 1,000 extra night flights - that's nearly as many as Heathrow.
"There's a lot of health research showing it effects heart conditions, respiratory conditions, attention deficit in children - night flights are simply cruel.
"We're not trying to stop people taking their summer holidays, we're not trying to stop people going to Spain with their kids, we're not trying to close Bristol Airport.
"We just think Bristol Airport is big enough," Steve added.
But bosses at Bristol Airport say the demand is growing, and expansion will improve the region's economy.
"We’re continuing to see strong demand to travel to and from our region, with business travel surprisingly holding up since the pandemic and people wanting to connect with friends and family across Europe," said Dave Lees, CEO of Bristol Airport.
"More than 10 million people from our catchment continue to travel to fly from Heathrow and London airports every year.
"We’re confident we can capture a section of that demand and boost the economy of our region by providing direct connections to North America and the Middle East," he added.
In a Full Council meeting on Tuesday (8th July) Bristol City Council joined B&NES Council in opposing further expansion of the airport.
"The Green Party is always opposed to airport expansion," said Council Leader Tony Dyer.
"The reality is if we don't tackle climate change, our economic potential will be even more restricted because we'll have to spend so much money mitigating the one-way impact of climate change."